


Frozen Dawn

by tfm



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-15
Updated: 2012-12-17
Packaged: 2017-11-21 04:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/593651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tfm/pseuds/tfm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emily drags Dave out into a cold Alaskan night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Emily pulled her arms in tightly, biting down against the cold.

She’d been to much colder places – Russia, on the Road of Bones, the Arctic Circle, on an inane cruise with her mother, Strauss’ office. The middle of December in Northern Alaska was practically mild in comparison.

‘Remind me again why we’re out here?’ Rossi asked, voice laced with the skepticism that Emily had come to expect from him. To be fair, though, she and Reid had kind of dragged him out here without explaining much of anything at all.

‘Aurora Borealis,’ Reid answered. Emily was perfectly happy to let the man wax lyrical on the subject while she tried to stave off the cold. ‘A meteorological phenomenon caused by the interaction of the Earth’s magnetic field with the flow of highly-charged energy particles from the Sun.’ Reid paused, as though to take a deep breath before continuing, but he, it seemed, was as affected by the cold as the rest of them, and elected not to.

‘And how long is it gonna take?’

‘However long it takes,’ Emily answered, saving Reid the trouble of going into detail about the best time and place for which to view an aurora. Rossi shot her a look, which quite plainly said, “It’s a good thing I like fucking you so much.”

Really, though, Emily knew that Rossi wouldn't be here if he didn't want to be there. He was hardly subtle when it came to expressing his feelings, and if he had a problem with something, then he usually let her know pretty damn quickly. It was the opposite of her own way of doing things, where she would slip into passive-aggressive mode, and refuse to tell anyone what was bothering her.

He was good to put up with her.

A rush of wind sent a shiver down her spine. In spite of all the layers, the chill was starting to become more palpable. Without even saying a word, Rossi stepped a little closer, and grasped her gloved hand.

Effectively, their relationship had become an open secret amongst the team. Everyone knew about it, but no-one spoke about it blatantly. Still, on cases, they tried to keep the physical contact to a minimum.

For several long, painstaking minutes, the only sound she could hear was the whistling wind. This was the kind of country where you could walk for hours, and not see a single soul. Some nights, that might have been a comforting thought. Tonight, not so much.

Tonight, she wanted to feel his warmth against her, inside of her.

The last few days had been exhausting, physically, and mentally. Their confrontation with the unsub had ended in a shootout, dark crimson blood staining the fresh, white snow. The image was stuck in her mind, like someone had pressed the pause button.

Emily would have slept if she wasn't so wired.

There was just always something about cases ending badly that made it impossible to sleep. Thankfully, Reid had been kind enough to provide her with an adequate distraction.

His giddy excitement had subsided somewhat over the last hour – the thought of seeing an amazing phenomenon overshadowed by the biting cold. Not even the seventeen thousand layers of clothes and giant Thermos filled with coffee was enough to ward off the chill.

'There!' he shouted, the noise breaking through the silence. A soft green light was barely visible against the inky black night, an arc stretching across the sky. It seemed impossible – preternatural, even – but then, Emily had long ago learned that truth was often stranger than fiction.

'It's beautiful,' Emily murmured, but the word somehow seemed inadequate. They should have sent a poet.

The light was not static. It moved like a wave, back and forth in a gentle flow. It was calming – almost soothing, in a way. All those moments lost in time, like tears in the rain.

Rossi's fingers squeezed around hers, as she leaned into his shoulder.

In spite of the cold, it was a single, perfect moment.

 


	2. Chapter 2

‘I think I’m going to head back,’ Reid announced, his teeth chattering wildly. Emily wasn’t at all surprised – he was used to desert weather, not taiga weather. While she was happy to stay out longer, the last thing they needed was for Reid to get lost on the way back to the motel, eidetic memory or not. With one last wistful glance towards the sky, they started to trudge through the snow.

It wasn't a long walk, compared to some that Emily had been on. It was a multi-day hike up a mountain to get to her grandfather's cabin in the French Alps. A couple of miles through the snow, she could deal with.

Of course, a couple of miles through the snow at one o’clock in the morning was a little more daunting. She was exhausted, but at the same time knew that sleep was still a long way off.

By the time they made it back to the motel, it was almost two. To say it was a small town seemed almost an overstatement. The woods seemed to overshadow the buildings, swallowing the town in the depths of the wilderness. One day it might be nice to live in a place like this.

 ‘We’re going to stay out a little longer,’ Rossi told Reid, who gave a small, almost knowing smile.  At first, Emily had felt a little guilty that she had spent the entire night by Rossi’s side, when it was Reid that had invited her out in the first place. Now, though, she knew that he would have quite happily gone alone were it not a) below freezing, b) the middle of nowhere, Alaska, and c) the middle of the night.

Even then, it was something he did to appease the rest of the team. Emily didn’t blame him; she knew how protective they could all get. Hell, she wouldn’t be surprised if Morgan got up in arms once he discovered where they’d been.

‘Well, good night,’ Reid replied, shivering. He’d wrapped up well enough to avoid hypothermia, so Emily felt safe enough in letting him make his own way up to his room. Once satisfied that he was not going to get eaten by a yeti, she crouched to the ground.

‘Everything okay?’ Rossi asked, voice suddenly taken on a tone of concern. She almost felt bad for taking advantage of his protectiveness when the snowball hit him in the chest. He gave a surprised grunt, the worry quickly turning to amusement.

‘Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?’ He dived out of the way of her second snowball, showing remarkable agility. ‘You really think you can beat me, Prentiss? I grew up with five brothers.’

'Well _that_ explains a lot,' she said, laughing. Overwhelmed by a sudden bout of mischievousness, she grabbed his coat and pulled him down into the snow.

'Jesus Christ, Emily. Some of us have back problems.' Despite the annoyance in his voice, he was smiling. Holding her cheeks in glove-clad hands, he pressed a long, deep kiss to her lips.

'You're pretty spry for a guy with back problems,' Emily said. 'I guess you're probably not interested in a different kind of recreational activity.'

'I thought you knew by now that that kind of recreational activity is an analgesic.'

'I suppose we'll have to test that.' It would have been tempting to simply strip down and do it right there, at the edge of the woods, but neither of them were quite insane enough to actually try it.

Frostbite, hypothermia, and the fact that any member of the team could look out the window of their motel room and see them buck naked in the snow, were the main reasons. Given time, Emily was sure she could have added more to the list.

If there was one thing the weather was good for, it was stopping friskiness in its tracks. They didn't even need a cold shower.

'I'm so wet,' Emily said, laughing, as Rossi pulled her up from the ground. He raised an eyebrow. 'From the snow,' she explained, feeling a slight flush in her cheeks. The wind came on again with a sudden fury. Reid definitely had the right idea in going back to the motel as quickly as possible.

The town was dark, save for a twenty-four hour diner across the street from the motel. Emily wasn't sure how much business a twenty-four hour diner would get in this part of the world, but was apparently enough to stay open.

'Hot chocolate?' Rossi suggested, and Emily found herself immediately salivating at the thought. It would give them a chance to ward off the chill properly before trying to sleep.

Hand in hand, they made their way across the street.

 


	3. Chapter 3

As they stepped inside the diner, Emily felt her body temperature sky-rocket. A wood stove in one corner of the room was crackling quietly, glowing orange embers pulsating. The other corner boasted a TV that seemed to manage flickering reception on at least one channel. The sound had been turned right down, so as not to drown out the CD player.

 

 _A scooter for Jimmy, a dolly for Sue_  
The kind that will even say "How do you do."  
When Christmas Day is here  
The most wonderful day of the year.

 ‘ _Rudolph_ is the best Christmas movie,’ she told him matter-of-factly. Technically, it was a TV special, not a movie, but it was two o’clock in the morning, and accuracy wasn’t high on her list of priorities.

 

‘I’ll take your word for it,’ he said, lips curling into a smile.

 

‘You aren’t one of those people whose favorite Christmas movie is  _Die Hard_ , are you?’

 

He shook his head. ‘Do you really think so little of me? Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo.  _National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation_.’

 

‘I’ll concede that your choice isn’t entirely terrible,’ Emily said, grinning. They sidled up to the counter, where a man in his early twenties was scrubbing at a stain. He looked up, as if surprised to see them there.

 

‘Cold night out there?’ he asked, smile not quite reaching his eyes. Emily was sure the whole town knew who they were, and while they weren’t resentful of the FBI’s presence, having them called there meant that things weren’t exactly going well.

 

‘You could say that,’ Emily laughed. As cold as she had been before, now that she was inside, she’d already pulled off her gloves and her coat, with her jacket threatening to follow suit.

 

‘What can I get for you?’

 

Emily’s eyes shot over towards the cabinet, where there were still the remains of the previous night’s pastries. ‘Hot chocolate with marshmallows, and a slice of your cherry pie.’

 

‘Whipped cream?’

 

At first unsure whether he meant with the pie, or with the hot chocolate, Emily decided it didn’t matter. ‘Please.’

 

Rossi’s order was almost identical, except he wanted pumpkin pie. ‘Good,’ Emily told him. ‘I’ll try some of yours too.’

 

As the diner was empty, they had their choice of seats. Rossi led her over to the booth in the corner, which was decorated with brightly colored tinsel.

 

The pie was good. Not great – they’d been to enough diners all over the country to get very picky about their desserts. Emily was almost certain that Reid had a numbered list of the country’s best Chinese restaurants.

 

By the time the pie was gone, it was past three.

 

Emily felt her eyes starting to droop a little, but she still wasn’t quite ready for sleep.

 

The motel, if it was possible, was even quieter than the diner. The lights were out, and the sound of sleep hung in the air.

 

They tiptoed through the hallway, certain Hotch would probably not be entirely impressed at being awoken by footsteps in the dark hours of the morning. He’d probably be even less impressed by the way Rossi’s hand was migrating down the back of her pants.

 

Somehow, Emily had become far more appreciative of winter once she’d found herself in a long-term relationship. It meant that instead of freezing her ass off when the heat was broken, she had an excuse to curl up next to Rossi and share his body heat.

 

Not that the heat was broken in the motel. Not that she ever  _needed_  an excuse to curl up next to Rossi and share his body heat.

 

‘My key-card’s in my pocket,’ she told him, her own hands running through his hair. As long as he was feeling her up, he may as well do something useful.

 

By the time they made it to the bed, she was naked, and freezing all over again.

 

By the time dawn struck, she was finally asleep.


End file.
